Press Digest for Sunday May 25, 2014

3^min

The following are summaries of today's major stories published in the Arabic press. LBCI does not edit press digest articles for content, giving English-language readers insight into the various views expressed in newspapers across the Arab world.

LF MP Zahra says Hezbollah wants a president who bows to its projects

Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said on Sunday that the March 14 forces are holding intensive contacts in order to deal with the presidential vacuum Lebanon has officially entered.

In this regard, MP Zahra told the Kuwait-based Al-Seyassah daily that Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun alongside Hezbollah and its regional project, bear direct responsibility for the power vacuum.

"Hezbollah rejects the election of a president who doesn't bow to its projects, i.e. the group's intervention in Syria and the annexation of Lebanon to the Iranian axis," he added.

UNSC to issue statement calling for election of new Lebanese president

Diplomatic sources told Al-Hayat newspaper on Sunday that the United Nations Security Council is set to issue a statement calling for the election of a new Lebanese president in a bid to end the current power vacuum.

The ambassadors of the Council's permanent members are holding round-the-clock consultations in this regard, the same sources said.

Cardinal Rai says reassured on his visit to Holy Land

Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rai told Al-Hayat daily on Sunday he was reassured to his visit to the Holy Land, reiterating that it is a pastoral and religious visit.

On another note, Rai called on the concerned authorities to settle the file of the Lebanese who still live in Israel since the liberation of south Lebanon from the Israeli occupation.

In a question directed at Cardinal Rai over whether he expected a new president to be elected soon, he said "it depends on when an agreement could be brokered between Iran and Saudi Arabia".

"The situation in Lebanon comes as a result of the Sunni-Shi'ite conflict in the region," he added.